Many of the offending boroughs were in the prime central London area, whereas east London fared better.

Greenwich had 72% of properties priced at the average price or below with Newham at 78%.

Russell said: “It’s no surprise to anyone that the majority of London is unobtainable to many from a property point of view.

“However, this research highlights just how out of reach the capital actually is for UK home buyers, even for those with the sizable budget of £550,000.

“When you talk about the average cost of buying in the capital being over half a million pounds, the mind really does boggle.

“Regardless, for many the average house price is a benchmark, a milestone, on just what they need to have in the bank to live in a certain area.

“But this average price masks the true cost of living in the capital or even where in the capital you can live for that matter.

“When you consider that even with that sort of healthy budget, you would have to restrict your property search by removing more than half of the properties currently for sale in the capital, it really highlights how little £550,000 can get you in the London market.”